“Puppets and Clowns” – Malcolm X, and “Y’all Wouldn’t Listen to Me” – Petey Pablo
by Sabrina Dawkins
Carefree partying,
listening to “Poison,”
roller skating ‘round in circles
for hours,
making no ground
as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé
poison my pancakes.
God can’t reach my “Telephone”
while I’m absorbing their sound waves.
Thank Ancient of Days
I was Patience Carter.
Richard Pryor
in Mickey Mouse pajamas
faced off against Malcolm X,
who demanded better housing
for the Negro.
But the comedian won
the fans, the youth, the broken.
Nick Cannon as Dallas Austin
mentored by another comedian,
Orlando Jones, whose Drumline
beat Moses Hogan’s spiritual tones
as Moses Barrett,
who came in royal purple,
a saint in all white,
wearing a cross of sacrifice,
who told you the train was coming
and no one would stop it.
It’s coming from Underground,
the Exodus
by way of Negro spirituals,
which you rejected
and instead chose
Damon Dash, Jay-Z,
Dallas Austin, P. Diddy.
Tupac was your Machiavelli,
your “martyred” antichrist
who came back from the dead
to lead you to destruction
on the broad way of secular music.
And Whitney Houston
wanted that “Thug Lovin’”
and got spat on.
Ironically, the expert
at singing the love song
died unable to choose the right one.
Ray J was her second drug.
Who is teaching your daughters
how and who to love?
Is it the “Queen of the Night,”
four minutes of narcissism
in which the celebrity
says how great she is
while making bad decisions?
Is it the Queen of the Damned
and Queen Bey,
grown-up “Little Miss Sunshines”
whose parents let dance provocatively
before they were legal,
telling girls to “Rock the Boat”
and “work the middle”?
The TV creates
an alternate universe
in which the Judases
are famous
and not infamous.
While Malevolent Forces Had Dominion Up Was Down & Down Was Up. Renewal is Here.
Yes, when the Bible is chosen over the TV, when praise of God replaces praise of godless celebrities, when earth is seen as a test and not a party.
Absolutely.